HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is waiting until today to reveal the tough budget choices that he is recommending to the legislature.

He is due to present a two-year budget plan to lawmakers that lays out how he proposes to close estimated deficits of more than $1 billion a year.

Malloy and his staff have divulged little about the administration's budget recommendations in the lead-up to today's budget address.

It was made clear Tuesday that the governor's budget plan is going to cause unhappiness in many quarters.

"This is about priorities and you are going to hear that word quite a bit tomorrow, and it is time that Connecticut set its priorities," Malloy said.

He said his three top spending priorities are education, workforce development and job growth.

Bits and pieces about the governor's budget plan have leaked out in the last couple of days since the administration started briefing agency heads and the legislature's leadership.

Rumors have abounded for weeks, including that Malloy may propose to eliminate property taxes on motor vehicles and somehow compensate municipalities for the lost revenue.

Malloy has rolled out a couple of education proposals, an agreement from Amazon.com to start collecting sales taxes from online shoppers here, new bonding initiatives for nonprofit organizations that contract to provide social services and a plan to beef up the University of Connecticut.

He has confirmed that state spending will rise under his budget plan, but he has not indicated by how much.

The Democratic governor has also stated in the last several days that he is not proposing another round of new taxes or tax increases.

However, there is a possible catch concerning temporary taxes that are due to expire.

Malloy and his budget director have been saying that the state's constitutional spending cap is going to come into play in a big way.

Deep cuts to hospitals and changes in Medicaid eligibility are among the reductions Malloy is proposing. A budget document obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press shows his plan cuts $1.8 billion in spending from the current services budget, which is the amount of spending required by law.

The administration previously estimated that the cost of maintaining current levels of state services would exceed the cap by more than $1 billion next year.

Malloy recommended legislation last year to exempt additional spending from the cap. The limit now excludes debt payments, grants to distressed municipalities, the first year of costs due to federal mandates or court order and transfers from the budget reserve fund.

According to the state comptroller's office, there is $93.4 million available in the rainy day fund that could be used to help balance the budget.

Malloy said Tuesday that he's recommending spending an additional $152 million over two years for education aid — $50.7 million in the first year and $101.5 million in the second year.

The funding would be used to increase Education Cost Sharing grants for 117 towns and cities, including the 30 lowest performing school districts. The grants for the remaining 52 municipalities will be funded at current levels.

"We can debate whether $152 million is a lot of money, but I think in comparison with what people expected would happen it is a great deal of money," Malloy said.

He would not say if he is proposing reductions in other local grants. This is another important detail that he is leaving for today. Town aid comes to $3 billion this year.

The first two-year budget that he signed as governor did not cut town aid. It also gave towns and cities a share of taxes on retail purchases and real estate transactions worth about $50 million annually. It also added $50 million in ECS funding, starting this budget year.

The adopted budget raised a record $2.6 billion in taxes — $1.4 billion in the first year and $1.2 billion in the second.

Malloy has said for months that he has no intentions of increasing taxes to balance his latest budget plan. He confirmed last week that he is not recommending any new taxes or tax increases.

However, Malloy has not ruled out extending any temporary taxes that are due to expire, including one on electric generation that is scheduled to lapse on June 30 after two years.

Two years ago, Malloy proposed to abolish a popular credit on the state income tax for local property taxes. He is not saying whether he is going to renew that recommendation.

The credit could represent a tempting target because it represents a large chunk of potential savings.

Malloy proposed eliminating it two years ago to save $365 million. The legislature agreed only to lower the maximum credit from $500 to $300. The reduced credit's estimated price tag is $150 million.

Malloy brushed aside a reporter's question Monday about whether he will be proposing changes to the property tax credit. He was also cryptic last week when asked if he would be making any proposals to eliminate local car taxes.

Malloy stated that he has looked for opportunities, but they were few and far between. However, he did not definitively rule out the idea.

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